If you ever played paper RPG Death Maze, Citadel of Blood or Labirynt Ĺmierci then you already know this game. DG is a tribute to this RPG (three names but game the same). In Dark Gates you lead your team of 6 heroes into dungeon where they will fight their way through in order to destroy Dark Gates and evil mage who is the master of the dungeon. Main feature of the game is dungeon itself. This is no predefined layout and every time you play, map is always different. Dungeon creates itself as you play. In your quest you will find monsters, magical items, trap, puzzles and treasures. Glory awaits one who destroys Dark Gates and evil mage. Game is in alpha stage, lot's of stuff missing or not working as intended.
I LOVE boardgames like Talisman, Wrath of Ashardalon, Dungeonquest, etc., but, sometimes it's hard to get people together or, it's late at night and I just want to play a boardgame but can't be bothered to set up one of the solitaire games. Dark Gates is shaping up to be one of those games that effectively scratches that itch. The developer is actively working on the game and I like the mechanic already. If you have played Dungeonquest in particular, you will feel as though this is an adaptation of that game but with a party.
Dark Gates is reminiscent of an SSI game released years ago for the C64 - I apologize for not remembering the name. However, what I DO remember is playing the game for MONTHS.
What I would like to see in this game is a mechanism for moving injured members of the party to a position where other party members can defend them. There doesn't seem to be a cleric class. Even pure rogue likes do have some healing mechanism, albeit they are hard to find.
So, a little more tactical options and this game will be solid. Job well done thus far!